It Could Have Been Worse
by MCalhen
Summary: Spiral's ending doesn't seem so bad, compared to the alternatives. A collection of "bad end meme" prompts from tumblr. Spoilers for all of the manga. First up, Yaiba and Kiyotaka meet each other for the first time.
1. Chapter 1

_**AN:** This is from a bad end meme on tumblr, and I thought I'd upload it here. Aza gave me this one: "Also Yaiba, you choose if it's bad end for him or for the world." I think it'll be obvious what I chose. Most of the chapters I upload for this will be angsty and sad and not follow canon, since they're not intended to, obviously. I had more fun with this than I should have, perhaps..._

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The flash from the blade reflected in the tall windows—even during daytime, they often worked like mirrors. He had a brief moment to remove the scalpel from his labcoat and best his opponent, but it was finding that moment that would take him time.

He continued to look out the window and pretend he had not seen the intruder. With a smirk, he wondered how the stranger had infiltrated his high security building. They had developed technology the world would not see for decades, technology that would keep the project safe and turn Yaiba's building into an impenetrable fortress. But somehow, this brown-haired man had come in, and with a knife no less. Did he really think he would kill him?

To his surprise, the stranger announced his presence. "I'm Narumi Kiyotaka and I've come to kill you."

Yaiba spun, hands kept away from his pockets. He would not allow Kiyotaka to see that he had any weapon. "Have you?" he asked calmly. No one had ever successfully taken his life—and he could have written a book about the attempts if they hadn't been so pathetic.

Kiyotaka did not deign him an answer. His chin remained held high, assertive and confident as he stepped forward. Not the least bit concerned, Yaiba remained where he stood, smirking.

When they were close enough Kiyotaka could stab him, Yaiba did not expect him to be successful. The hitman's bullets always hit the wall behind him, he had an intuitive knowledge of when his car had been tampered with, and the bombs always failed to go off. Yaiba had never known repercussions for his actions.

But some human instinct in him caused the reflex. As Kiyotaka's knife moved toward him, he knew it could not touch him, but he felt the tip of it slide over his skin and slice it, a smooth and rather deep cut—but not a fatal one. His eyes widened at his opponent. Yaiba felt pain sear through his chest as he lurched out of the way, the front of his shirt wet with his own blood. He had never known pain. It excited him.

"Is this what a fight for survival feels like?" he whispered, lust stirring within him. It had been no difficulty to produce sperm for his children, but he had never known this level of arousal.

His fingers closed around the scalpel, and he dove after Kiyotaka. They circled around his desk, Yaiba kicking his chair out to slow down his opponent.

"That's some weapon you have," said Kiyotaka, and he seemed slightly amused.

"It's impressive you managed to get this far. Who let you in?"

"I let me in."

Yaiba pushed his body over the desk with one wrist, his scalpel out and aimed at Kiyotaka's neck. The man stumbled back, his body pressed against the glass as Yaiba narrowed in on him. His weapon had made a surface graze along Kiyotaka's collarbone. But as he took note of the slightness of the wound, he felt the knife's dip drive into his hip. He gasped, bewildered.

"Who are you?" he asked Kiyotaka.

The man answered in a rather flowery way, "I'm Kiyotaka-sama."

Yaiba pushed Kiyotaka against the wall, allowing the knife deeper so he could close in on his neck with the scalpel. Kiyotaka's arm could not move to withdraw the knife, and both men were equal in size and strength.

Yaiba made a quick movement with his scalpel. Kiyotaka might have gasped if he had had the throat left to do so. It had been a clean, precise cut for a scalpel. When the body slumped to the floor, Yaiba kneeled next to him, the fingers of his right hand curled around his neck. With his thumb, he felt through the blood for the place where the skin had parted. He grinned down at his enemy.

"Thank you for the fight, Narumi Kiyotaka," said Yaiba. "You have made the most interesting attempt on my life. Just who—and what—are you?"

He leaned in and kissed Kiyotaka's lips. The fight had had a positive effect on his libido, and he realized this would be the perfect moment to initiate the second wave of Blade Children.


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN:** Another from Aza. "Kousuke/Ryouko" for this one. I honestly do not think they would have a child before their twenties, but it seemed more angsty that way..._

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Kousuke is the first to approach the age they have pretended not to dread. There are signs, a sort of reversal, because Ryouko had almost forgotten what Kousuke looked like when his eyes went catlike, had almost been able to live under the belief that they would be all right. And now she is pregnant with their soon-to-be firstborn, and she has started to realize he likes to play with the kitchen knives a little too long, has made strange comments that refer to humans in a derogatory way, and he has been increasingly hard and serious with her.

She thinks their distance might be the pregnancy. Then he comes home with blood on his clothes, and she begins to think it is not. He burns them and for a moment, he returns to the Kousuke she knew only to tell her, "Please pretend you didn't see that." He sounds sheepish, but she is angry, and she punches him. All they ever do is pretend.

Then it becomes clear to her one night, as they're lying in bed. She cannot sleep and holds her swollen abdomen in the fetal position. She tries not to cry in fright, because she can feel the dislike for humans welling in her, too. Kousuke is almost twenty, she notes, and soon, she will be, too. They have pretended, but there is no doubt of it anymore.

The curse of the Blade Children is a very real thing, and they wanted to bring a second generation into the world.

Only they can't, she realizes, and she feels unfathomable guilt when she realizes the unborn child, Kousuke, and her are every bit the nightmare the Blade Children were said to be and should not be allowed to live.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Prompt from Lin. This time, it's a bad end for Kanone and Ayumu. If this is even 150 words, I'd be amazed. I have never uploaded something so short before, but I feel all right about doing so since it's not being uploaded individually.

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They are deadlocked. Neither wants to kill the other, it's imperative Ayumu keep Kanone alive, and it is impossible for Kanone to allow himself to kill Ayumu—even if he could, which he knows he can't.

But for a quick moment, Ayumu sees an opportunity to be freed from the chokehold and aims, one sliver of time allowing in an emotion he did not know he could harbor, and he lets the bullet out of the chamber. It enters Kanone's rib cage. His hands slip away from Ayumu's neck.


End file.
